


Truths and Lies

by Little_Red



Category: Chicago PD (TV), Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Age Difference, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Humor, Babysitting, Backstory, Bad Flirting, Bad Parenting, Barba babysits, Big Sisters, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Courtroom Drama, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Crossover, Dark Past, Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, It Gets Better, Little Sisters, Long-Distance Relationship, Older Man/Younger Woman, Past Abuse, Photography, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, Romance, Sisters, Slow Burn, Teenage Drama, The Lord of the Rings References, Violence, World Traveller, it's just the backstory, it's not as bad as it sounds, police protection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 00:50:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11956248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Red/pseuds/Little_Red
Summary: Sometimes when you tell the truth, all that people seem to hear are lies.





	Truths and Lies

**Author's Note:**

> Possible triggers. Mentions of drug and alcohol abuse. Mentions of death, neglect and abuse. Some violence. 
> 
> Some of the back story and flashbacks can be potentially triggering, there’s nothing really graphic or descriptive but it touches on abuse and neglect. I am not an expert on drugs or alcohol abuse, nor any of the other topics that I touch on. I’ve been binge watching Law & Order SVU and this was inspired by an a few different episodes. This starts at Season 16, episode 1 (Carisi’s first day) and goes on from there. This fic may crossover into Chicago P.D at some point.
> 
> This is my first time writing for SVU.

*****

**_Pippin’s POV_ **

I slowed my steps as we neared base camp. I was dead tired from trekking through the jungle for two weeks, but I had got some amazing photos and I knew the articles would turn out great. But we didn’t find one of the massive anacondas that we were looking for. We had found some juveniles, but we failed to find a record breaking adult.

“Hurry up Pippin!” Michael, one of the biologists yelled at me, “Unless you want to be the last one to shower.”

“Ha! Nice try Mike!” I snorted as I snapped a few pictures of some macaws who were watching me curiously. “But it’s ladies first!”

“Not if said lady doesn’t leave the jungle right now.” Mike teased me, as he grabbed my elbow and led me out of the dense foliage “Come on Shutterbug.”

“But…” I protested, dragging my feet and laughing while pointing at the macaws.

“Pip, we are coming back in a few days, you can take more pictures after we clean up and restock.” He reminded me, shaking his head in mock exasperation.

“I know, I know.” I grumbled, “It’s just…. I love it here. It’s a good distraction. And I really wanted to get an amazing shot of fully grown anaconda. I wanted to find a record breaker.”

“And we will.” Mike replied, “But maybe we need to change tactics.”

“Oh?” I questioned as I squinted up at him in the late afternoon sun, “How so?”

 “Maybe bring in some waterproof equipment and start focusing more on looking in the water, rather than around the swamps and rivers.” He suggested, “What do you think? Would that be a problem for you?”

“I think that’s a great idea! And no, it won’t be. It’s the oceans and lakes that I don’t like to be on, swamps and rivers I can handle.” I assured him, “Plus it gives me an excuse to buy that waterproof camera that I’ve had my eye on..... and all the accessories to go with it..”

“Ok how about this.” Mike suggested, taking full advantage of my distracted musings, “You let me shower first, and you can go to the main tent and order all the new toys that you need.”

“You got a deal.” I laughed, “But it’s not fair using my love of cameras against me!”

“It’s completely fair if it means that I get hot water.” Mike called over his shoulder as he jogged towards the showers.

“Jackass.” I muttered fondly as I made my way to the main tent. Luckily most of the other biologists and crew were fighting over the showers still, meaning that I had no one to barter with over the satellite internet connection.

I pulled up the pages that I needed to order the camera, and but then it occurred to me that checking my messages first would be smart. I started deleting emails that I didn’t need, when I saw one that was sent to me late last night, and it was marked urgent.  

At the same time, one of the operators came into the tent “Oh hey Pip, did you get your message? You had an urgent phone call last night.” he told me.

“What!? No, I didn’t! Where is the message?” I demanded as I twisted in my seat to look at him.

“Uhh it’s right here.” He replied, handing me a slip of paper and a satellite phone, giving me a concerned look.

I read the message quickly and punched in the number, then opened the email as I waited for my call to be answered.

I was still staring at my computer screen in shock, and holding the phone to my ear when Mike came into the tent.

“Pip, shower’s free.” He announced “Pip? Pippin? PIP! What’s wrong?”

“They found my sister.” I whispered, dropping the phone and looking up at his as my eyes welled up with tears, “She’s alive.”

*****

**_Barba’s POV_ **

I listened as Liv caught me up to date on the case, but a breathless voice behind me caused me to turn around.

“Excuse me? Which one of you is in charge?”

An exhausted young woman was standing behind Fin and Rollins, looking around at all of us.

“I got it Sergeant.” The new detective, Carisi volunteered, going towards her. “I’m Detective Carisi, how can I help you Ms…”

“Bouchard. Pippin Bouchard.” She replied as she looked the detective over doubtfully, “No offense, but I want to talk to the real police.”

“I am the real police.” Carisi replied indignantly, “I’m Detective Carisi.”

“I heard you, but I can’t take you seriously with a moustache like that.” She muttered, peering around him.

Carisi’s jaw dropped as he rubbed his atrocious mustache in shock. The rest of the squad were fighting to keep smirks off their faces as Ms. Bouchard stepped around him before addressing the rest of us.

“I’m here for Jemarie Palmer.” She announced, “I got an alert that she was found.”

“I’m Sergeant Benson. And just who are you to her Ms Bouchard?” Liv asked, as she took in the young woman before us.

I looked her over carefully; she certainly didn’t look like a pimp or working girl. She had long sun streaked dirty blonde hair, which was thrown into a messy bun and kept out of her eyes with an old bandana. Her deep brown eyes were red with exhaustion and weariness, but contained a spark of hope. She had on khaki cargo capris, a black tank top and a rumbled, faded denim shirt with sunglasses tucked in the pocket finished off her look. Smudges of dirt adorned her forehead and knees, and a delicate necklace hung from her neck, half of a heart charm hanging from the chain. A large hiking backpack was on her back, stuffed to the brim, and a red backpack was clutched tight in her right hand. She looked like she had walked straight off a hiking trail and into the precinct.

“Jemarie Palmer is my baby sister. I have been looking for her for over six years, ever since my mother and step father disappeared with her.” She explained, as she let go of the smaller bag “I got on the first flight out and came straight here.”

“From where?” Fin asked, looking at her attire. “Were you out hiking somewhere?”

“Brazil. I was in Brazil, in the Amazon rainforest to be exact.” She replied. “Please, where is my sister?”

Liv nodded at Rollins, and the blonde detective disappeared into the back rooms, presumably to go get Jemarie.

“What were you doing there Ms. Bouchard?” I asked curiously, wanting to know how she ended up with dirt on her face. “Where you on vacation?”

“Please call me Pippin. Or Pip.” She told me, smiling tiredly “I was there for work. I’m a wildlife photographer and journalist, I do freelance work for several magazines. I had just gotten back to the main camp after a two week trek through the jungle when I got the alert about my sister. I left immediately.” She fiddled with a strap on her bag as she explained, trying to loosen it so she could get the hoodie that was tied on free. “I want to see my sister, please.”

“She’s on her way; here, let me take those.” Carisi volunteered, as he picked up her smaller bag. Pippin cast a wary eye at Carisi as he waited for her second bag. The girl shrugged and eased the bag off her back, handing it one handed to the detective while she pulled the hoodie loose. The detectives eyes widened and he groaned as he bore the full weight of the backpack.  

“Be careful with that. Everything I own is in those two bags.” She cautioned, watching the detective carefully.

“Even the kitchen sink?” Carisi muttered under his breath as he placed the bags by Rollin’s desk.

“Well there are dishes in there.” She admitted, making me smirk.

“What do you mean that your family disappeared?”  Liv asked gently, looking concerned.

“They left-” she started, before a voice cut her off.

“Pippin?!”

“Ree?” The young woman spun around towards the cry, as Rollins lead Jemarie into the squad room.

“Pip!” Jemarie yelled as she darted forward towards her sister.

“You’re here.” She sobbed as she latched on to Pippin tightly, “I thought that I would never see you again.”

“I never stopped looking for you Ree. Never.” Pippen whispered, tears streaming down her face.

“I thought that you were dead.” The teenager sobbed.

“What?” Pippin replied, “No… where did you get such an idea?”

“Excuse me Sergeant, but Jemarie Palmer’s family is here.” A uniform informed Liv, who had been watching the reunion carefully.

“Bring them in.” Liv ordered, already moving to greet the parents as they came in.

The sisters looked at each other quietly, a silent conversation going on between them.

“Mr and Mrs Palmer, I’m Sergeant Benson.” Liv greeted the parents, pulling my focus from the sisters and to the parents who had just arrived. “Your daughters are right over here.”

“Jemarie!”  A woman who appeared to be in her fifties cried out; hurrying towards her youngest daughter.  She was about 5’5 with light brown hair and hazel eyes. Her husband, who appeared to be younger than here, had to be at least 6’0 and a head full of thick dark brown hair that was greying at the temples and equally brown eyes. They were clean and put together; but there was something about them that just seemed off, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

“Don’t touch me!” Jemarie hissed, as she tried to back away from her mother.

“Did you say that our daughters were here? As in Peri was here?” Mrs. Palmer asked, looking at Liv, as she grabbed her rather panicked looking daughter’s wrist and pulled her close.

It was only then that I noticed that Pippin was nowhere to be seen, yet her bags still rested by Rollins desk.

“Oh…. yes, there was a Pippin here…” Liv said slowly as she looked around for the young traveller. “Maybe she went to the bathroom?”

“Peri was here?” Mrs. Palmer repeated, looking around carefully, as her husband quietly left, presumably to go look for his daughter.

“Her name is not Peri mother. It’s Pippin.” Jemarie growled, pulling free of her mother’s grasp, “You should know, you named her. You betrayed her.”

“Oh please Jemarie, I didn’t betray her, stop being so dramatic. And for the record, I didn’t name her; that was her father’s doing.” She sniffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder, “I wanted a normal name for her.”

“Like my name is normal mother.” Jemarie snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at her mother.

“It’s exotic sounding.” Mrs. Palmer soothed, reaching for her daughter again.

“Pippin is from a famous book.” Jemarie argued, stepping back from her mother. “A classic”

“And it is a boy’s name.” Her mother said tightly, obviously this was a sore subject for the family.

“At least in means something!” Jemarie yelled, “My name means nothing! Nothing! Just like Pippin and I mean nothing to you!”

“This is Peri’s doing!” Mrs. Palmer wailed, as she gripped her daughter’s upper arms and gave her a slight shake, “That girl is a horrible influence. There’s a reason that we kept you from her.”

“You kept us apart because she told the truth.” Jemarie accused, jerking free of her mother’s grip. “I still don’t know why you kept me so long.”

“Peri has already filled your head with lies.” She sighed, rubbing her temples. “We should get a restraining order.”

“PIPPIN! Her name is PIPPIN!! Not Peri. Pippin. You are getting her confused with Merri.” Jemarie yelled. “And she needs a restraining order alright…… against YOU!”

“Jemarie.” The woman warned, grasping her daughter’s wrist. “Enough.”

“No! Admit it! You wished that Pippin died instead of Merri!!! That’s why you treat her so bad.” Jemarie yelled, tears streaming down her face.

“Merri would have never spouted the lies that Peri does.” Mrs. Palmer snapped, her eyes flashing with anger. “She is toxic to this family.”

“Pippin.” Jemarie snarled, “For the last fucking time mother, her name is Pippin. And you are the toxic one!”

“Do not talk to your mother that way.” Her father growled, as he walked up to his wife and daughter “You treat her with respect.”

“Fuck you.” Jemarie spat, glaring up at her father. “You’re worse than she is!”

“Forget it Earl. It’s just Peri’s influence.” Mrs. Palmer said, turning and placing her free hand on her husband’s chest, “We will deal with it.”

“Owe! Mother! You’re hurting me.” Jemarie yelped, as she clawed at her mother’s hand.

“Oh! I’m sorry sweetheart.” She soothed as she let go of her daughter’s wrist, before turning to look at Liv.

“I’m sorry Sergeant Benson.” She apologized, immediately switching into the loving mother role, “My name is Cynthia and this is my husband Earl.”

Liv smiled tightly and shook hands with the Palmers.

“I’m sorry that you had to witness all that,  _Peri_  causes all manners of trouble.” She explained, spitting out Peri like it was a bad word, “She seems to bring out the worst in us.”

“And why is that?” Liv questioned, leaning against Fin’s desk.

“After her father died, she became very angry and withdrawn. Acting out.” Cynthia explained, “And not long after I remarried, she ran away and made claims against her step father. None of which were true.”

“Ahh…” Liv said, “Why would she make such claims?”

“Because we were moving and she didn’t want to. So she made up absurd claims and refused to go back on them. I sent her to live with her godparents, in hopes that their stricter lifestyle would help sort her out. Apparently it didn’t” she explained sadly.

“That’s not true mother.” Jemarie hissed, “You kept me from Pippin!”

“Peri lied Jemarie.” She mother sighed, “You were so young…. she got herself into some trouble, and didn’t want to admit what really happened, so she accused your father out of pure spite.”

“And why would she do that?” Jemarie snipped, her face red with fury.

“Because we were moving and she didn’t want us too.” She replied. “And she was trying to cover up the mistakes that she had made.”

“Then why did you tell me that she was dead?!” Jemarie screeched.

“I’m sorry sweetie, that was wrong of us… but we thought that a clean break from her would be the best for all of us. That’s why we moved again, so she couldn’t find us. We wanted you to have a normal life.”  She explained.

“I don’t believe you.” Jemarie growled, “I want to hear it from Pippin.”

“I went to find her Jemarie, and she’s gone.” Earl spoke up, “She left.”

“Only because of you.” She accused, as her eyes welled up with tears again. “She left because of you.”

“It’s for the best Jemarie, I was going to tell her to stay away anyways, you don’t need her drama in your life.” He replied, reaching out to rub her shoulder lightly. “We need to keep her away from you.”

I didn’t miss the way that she flinched from his touch, and neither did Liv, whose eyes narrowed slightly at them.

“Is our daughter under arrest? Or can we take her home?” Cynthia asked, looking at Liv.

“You daughter was pulled out of raid on house full of working girls.” Liv started, only to be interrupted by Earl.

“Taking after your sister already?” he hissed, glaring at his daughter, and then looking at Liv. “What are the charges? And what can we do to keep my step daughter away from my daughter?”

“She was more of a prisoner than a working girl.” Liv hurried to add, before looking at me. “And so far her record is clean.”

“As it stands, no charges will be laid against her, as long as she tells us everything that she knows and agrees to testify against the ones in charge.” I told them,

“I’ll do it.” Jemarie agreed quickly, looking me in the eye, “I will tell you  _everything_. Just please keep me safe.”

“We will put you and your parents up in a hotel, and keep some uniforms with you.” Liv assured her.

I frowned at that, it seemed to me when she said that she would tell us everything, she meant more than just about the case.

Jemarie looked at us with terrified eyes, “I’d rather stay here.” She pleaded. “Please.”

“You will be safe.” Liv assured them, before motioning to a uniform. “Go with Officer Rycroft, he will take you to the desk Sergeant and help you get settled in a hotel.”

“Thank you Sergeant Benson, but is there a way that we can keep Peri away from my daughter?”  Cynthia asked, “I can’t have her filling her sister’s head with more lies.”

“I will do what I can.” Liv promised as the Palmers got up to leave. “But she might not come back.”

“What do you make of them?” I murmured to Liv, as we watched the Palmers leave with their terrified daughter.

“I don’t know… something seems off about them, but I don’t know what.” She admitted, “And I don’t know what to make about the eldest daughter. I’d like to talk to her at least, and hear her side of things.”

“As would I.”  I replied as looked over at her things, wondering again why she left without a word, or with her belongings.

*****

**_Pippin’s POV_ **

As Sergeant Benson greeted my mother and step-father, I looked at Jemarie, holding a silent conversation with her. As soon as everyone focused on the parents from hell, I ducked down behind a desk and quickly scurried out unseen, thankful that I had learned to walk quietly as to not startle the wild animals that I photographed. Stealth was everything. I learned these tricks from a Maasai guide while on assignment in Serengeti.

I hurried down the stairs and ran out into the late afternoon sun, quickly crossing the street and hiding in an dark alleyway. Leaning against the brick wall, I sighed and slid down until I was sitting with my back to the wall. Letting out a shuddering breath, I closed my eyes against the fear and anger that was coursing through me ever since I saw them.

My mother was supposed to love me no matter what, but after the accident that claimed the lives of my dad and sister, she changed.  For the first six months it was a deep depression, and she refused to get out of bed. Then came the excessive drinking, alcoholic rages and blackouts. Then there was a drunken fall down the stairs that landed her in the hospital with a herniated disk in her back. That seemed to be rock bottom for her, and she started to clean up while she was recovering from her fall. It was almost a year later that I realized she while she stopped drinking excessively, she wasn’t clean and her newest addiction was the prescription drugs that she took for her ‘chronic back pain’.

My mother became a high functioning addict, always managing to keep a job and a steady supply of pills on hand. By this time I was basically raising myself, since my mother truthfully couldn’t be bothered with me. And then she met Earl, an addict himself, who only made my mother’s addictions worse. Earl always terrified me, there was just something unhinged about him and after he married my mother I saw what the thin grasp on his sanity was hiding.  

I ran away not to long after they married, and my claims against my step-father fell on deaf ears. I moved in with my godparents, and didn’t see my mother or Earl again until I was twenty-three. I was ten when my dad and sister died. I was eleven when my mother spiraled out of control. I was twelve when she met Earl. And thirteen when I ran away from home, desperate to get away from the hell that my life had become. I was nineteen when Jemarie was born and I didn’t find out about her until I was twenty-three. I vowed that no matter what, Jemarie would not suffer through what I had too. So I became as involved in her life as much as I could be. And things seemed to be different. My mother was clean, and Earl seemed to be as well. I was twenty-seven and Ree was eight when things changed. My mother and Earl started using again, when I tried to intervene, Ree was ripped away from me and I have been searching for her ever since, desperate to get her away from our mother and the monster that she had married.

Shaking myself from memory lane, I blinked the tears from my eyes and stared at the doors to the police station. I wouldn’t let them get away with it again. I would wait until it was safe for me to get back into the police station. The Sergeant and detectives that I had met seemed nice enough; I think I could get them to help me. Maybe they would believe me.

They had to at least see that mother and Earl were using again. I could see the signs, but I also noticed something else. They were not holding it together as well as they used too, there were cracks starting to form in their carefully built facade, and they were starting to show what lay beneath.

It was about half an hour after I left that I saw mother and Earl being escorted from the building. At first my heart soared, thinking that they were being asked to leave, then I saw Jemarie with them and I knew it wasn’t true. I watched as they were directed into what looked like an unmarked police car by a couple of officers. Earl paused and looked around and it felt like he looked right at me before he got into the car. I knew it was just my nerves, he didn’t see me.

I watched as the car pulled away, then stepped out of the alley. I glanced at the police station quickly and then back at the car which was almost out of sight. I needed my stuff, but I couldn’t lose sight of the car. Making up my mind, I flagged down a cab and jumped in the back seat.

“Can you hurry that way?” I asked, pointing in the direction the car went, “I need to follow a car.”          

*****

**_Barba’s POV_ **

“So how do we find this trouble making step daughter?” Carisi asked Liv, looking at around the room, “If she really is what they say she is.”

“You don’t think she’s troubled?” Liv asked him, ask she checked a text on her phone.

“No, she doesn’t seem to be at all.” He admitted, “And there’s something that is just… off about those parents.”

“I agree.” Liv replied, “What do we know about Pippin Bouchard?”

“Coming right up Sergeant.” Rollins called out as she typed some things into her computer, “Here it is.”

“Ok, Peregrine Bouchard, better known as Pippin Bouchard.” Rollins read out loud, “Peregrine? Isn’t that a bird? And why does Pippin sound so familiar?”

“Peregrine Falcon. And Pippin is from Lord of the Rings.” Carsi said as he fiddled with his pen. He paused and looked up when he felt everyone looking at him.

“You know? Lord of the Rings? Tolkien? One Ring to rule them all?” he prompted, raising his brows as he looked at all of us “Pippin Took which was short for Peregrin Took, who was a character in the J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit, one of the nine in fellowship of the rings. I can only assume that’s where Pippin came from, and I’m betting that they went with Peregrine because it is more feminine sounding name than Peregrin.”

“Ahh, yes I remember now.” I mumbled to myself, I hadn’t read the Lord of The Rings in years, but now I clearly remembered that character. Everyone else nodded as they remembered the book in question. “Not your average name. But then again neither is Jemarie.”

“You got that right… Anyways” Rollins continued “Pippin has a clean record. No arrests. No trouble. Not even a parking ticket.”

“Doesn’t that seem odd to anyone?” I asked, “From the way her mother talked, I expected a long rap sheet.”

“She looks like a quiet, sweet woman.” Fin commented, “Nothing like her mother made her out to be.”

“I agree.” I replied, before I remembered something. “How did her father and sister die?”

“Hold on.” Rollins said, “Let’s see if I can find something….. damn…. it was a boating accident. Pippin Bouchard was the sole survivor. Apparently she watched her dad and sister drown, and couldn’t do anything to help them, she was only ten years old.”

“Damn.” Fin said, “Something like that could really mess a person up.”

“She seems normal enough to me.” Carisi commented, “A little bit sassy at times but otherwise normal.”

“She was right about the mustache.” Rollins told him, causing me to laugh.

“If you don’t need me anymore, I am going to call it a night.” I told Liv, “Keep me updated on the case?”

“Will do. Goodnight Barba.” She replied, smiling at me.

“Goodnight Liv, try not to work too late.”

I left thinking of Pippin’s soft brown eyes and how she had cried when she saw her sister. She wasn’t the menace that her mother made her out to be. If she was, then my instincts were way off and it was time for me to retire.

*****


End file.
